Cuba from revolution to development

Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent demise of CMEA (Council for Mutual Economic Advancement), the international communist trading bloc, observers have been predicting that Cuba will go the same way as the rest of the Warsaw Pact: 'market forces' replacing planning directives, and with political representation through political parties competing periodically for the national vote.

Cuba has defied the pundits. And, in the opinion of the author, will not succumb to the liberalizing pressures of the globalized world economy. Cuba faces problems, and in this book the scale of these pressures is assessed in the context of Cuban development since the revolution in 1959. The alternative policy strategies put forward in the traditional literature are theoretically addressed, with the ideological implications of each programme emphasized.

Cuba does face a new, hostile international economic environment, and choices have to be made. But these are political choices, rather than economic ones. The possible economic options open to Cuba are discussed, in light of the political constraints and parameters within which market forces must operate.

'Examining intelligently the different options available to Havana's policy-makers, Ken Cole's mastery of economic theory allows him to explain in accessible language Cuba's economic decline and ensuing surprising recovery in the 1990s....required reading for students and teachers of Cuban affairs, as well as newsmen, policy-makers and investors who need to learn the why and how behind Cuba's promising economic renewal.'